Because there are scenes edited from The Muppet Show DVDs:

I am no longer buying the set

I haven't decided yet

I'm still buying the set

What they could have done is use hypnotive on the song owners to bring the rights to Disney. But unfortunatly, after the hypnotive, the song owners might call the police to arrest Disney for hypnotizing the song owners, right?

What they could have done is use hypnotive on the song owners to bring the rights to Disney. But unfortunatly, after the hypnotive, the song owners might call the police to arrest Disney for hypnotizing the song owners, right?

I thought the quality of the picture and audio on the first DVD set was perfect. The extras like the "Sex & Violence" pilot and the Pitch Reel were a great addition. I was dissappointed with the cuts that were made. I can't really understand why certain sketches needed to be cut tho. Take the Vincent Price episode for instance. I have that particular episode on about 4 original releases now and the new Disney release is the only one to have cut the "You've got a friend" sketch. Why did Columbia/Tristar not have the same trouble with getting the copyright clearance when they released that episode in full only a few years ago?
I sincerley hope that Disney put their hands in their pockets and use all this money they are getting from sales to try and secure the copyright for every episode of season two in full!

Take the Vincent Price episode for instance. I have that particular episode on about 4 original releases now and the new Disney release is the only one to have cut the "You've got a friend" sketch. Why did Columbia/Tristar not have the same trouble with getting the copyright clearance when they released that episode in full only a few years ago?

You could be right. I do, however, find it rather strange that it's only since Disney have bought the rights to The Muppets that all these copyright problems have come up. I have original Muppet tapes from the 70's to the present day and it has only been recent releases that have been incomplete.

It's very probably a coincidence. Music rights have become something of a problem in the last few years, which just happens to coincide with Disney's acquisition of the Muppets. It's entirely probable that Columbia would have hit the same problem had they been able to continue with their releases.

Basically, it boils down to this: the rights-holder is under no obligation to license the use of their property to anyone. If they choose to do so, they can choose what - if anything - they want to charge for it. The situation changes all the time as the perceived value of a particular recording alters. For example, it is not currently possible to license original Beatles recordings for home video use. This is a fairly recent change - a few years ago, it was fine. It also varies by country: all four seasons of Quantum Leap released to date have cuts in the US releases due to music problems; only the fourth season has been cut in the UK.

This isn't entirely a recent problem, however: MFC has never been available uncut in the US due to music rights issues.

It really angers me to think that some companies are so tight fisted that they won't even let a franchise like The Muppets use their material. I don't understand what they think they are going to lose out on. Do they think that the original recording will lose value if included on a Muppet DVD? It's all about money. Everything is always about the money.